New York (dpa) - Electric car manufacturer Tesla registered record production and revenue in the first quarter of the year, but a higher-than-expected loss put a damper on the earnings report it released Wednesday.

The US company's 330 million dollar loss for the January-March time span compared with a loss of 282 million in the same quarter in 2016. Total revenue more than doubled to a record 2.7 billion dollars.

Tesla increased production by 64 per cent and delivered just over 25,000 cars, more than any quarter in its history.

The company said the reason for the bigger loss was largely costs associated with the introduction of the Model 3 planned for July. Expected to cost about 35,000 dollars, it will be Tesla's first mid-range priced car and Tesla's first move away from the luxury market.

Development, equipment installation and supplier readiness remain on schedule to start production in July, the company said.